Health Watch: Babies know who’s naughty or nice

Monday

Nov 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 26, 2007 at 5:13 PM

Weekly health rail, this week with a cute baby! Plus new feature on "Healing Herbs."

Quote of Note

"Our results suggest that infants, just like adults, are able to tell the difference between those who act positively vs. negatively toward others, and that they tend to approach those who act positively and to avoid those who act negatively."

Yale University's graduate student J. Kiley Hamlin, who was part of a study that showed babies are able to tell who’s trustworthy or not. Children ages 6 months to 10 months were used in the study.

Healing Herbs: Turmeric

WebMD recently released a list of 10 herbs that are starting to attract interest from scientists as being beneficial for a variety of conditions. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll highlight some of these healing herbs.

Ease arthritis: A heaping helping of curry could relieve your pain. That's because turmeric, a spice used in curry, contains curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory that works similarly to Cox-2 inhibitors, drugs that reduce the Cox-2 enzyme that causes the pain and swelling of arthritis, says Lee.

It might also: Prevent colon cancer and Alzheimer's disease. According to a small 2006 clinical trial conducted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, curcumin can help shrink precancerous lesions known as colon polyps, when taken with a small amount of quercetin, a powerful antioxidant found in onions, apples and cabbage.

Number to Know: 70

Percent of food budget an average low-income American would have to spend just on fruits and vegetables to eat according to national dietary guidelines, according to HealthDay News. Another study showed that in rural areas, convenience stores far outnumber supermarkets and grocery stores. "I think it's a matter of raising awareness among health professionals -- and that could be dieticians or diabetes educators or even doctors -- that when we typically give people a recommendation to eat more fruits and vegetables, that is actually so much more complicated in a rural environment," said Angela Liese, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Health Tip: Watch What You Eat This Season

The cold months might seem like the perfect time to eat plenty of cream soups and hearty stews, but beware – they pack a huge caloric punch. "Warm soups and stews feel so nutritious, but if they are loaded with cream, cheese, or meat, they are also loaded with calories," Suzanne Farrell, RD, owner of Cherry Creek Nutrition, told WebMD. Serving them in a bread bowl, atop rice, or noodles, or dunking big portions of bread into them can put even healthy soups or stews over the top in terms of calories, she says.

Children’s Health

Moms who smoke before, during and even after pregnancy may be compromising their daughters' future fertility, new research suggests. The study involved female mice injected with environmental toxins found in cigarette smoke before they became pregnant and while they were nursing. Though the mice's litter size was not affected by the smoke toxin exposure, ovarian function in the female offspring was. -- WebMD

Senior Health

Contrary to popular thinking, seniors need as much sleep as younger adults – and they’re generally not getting enough of it, a new study found. The American Journal of Medicine reported that researchers found about 50 percent of seniors have problems getting the sleep they need. The problems tend to be “sleep fragmentation” (constant waking) and lack of REM sleep (deep, dream-state sleep).

Lifestyle

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